California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision BlizzardCalifornia Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard was a lawsuit filed by the California Civil Rights Department against video game developer Activision Blizzard in July 2021. The lawsuit asserted that management of Activision Blizzard allowed and at times encouraged sexual misconduct towards female employees, that the company maintained a "frat boy" culture, and that the company's hiring and employment practices were discriminatory against women.
Activision BlizzardActivision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King. Founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. and Vivendi Games, the company owns and operates additional subsidiary studios, as part of Activision, including Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games.
CODE-CWAThe Campaign to Organize Digital Employees or CODE-CWA is a project launched by the Communications Workers of America to unionize tech and video game workers in January 2020. It sprung out of conversations with Game Workers Unite (GWU) and employed at least two full-time staff, including GWU co-founder Emma Kinema and veteran SEIU organizer Wes McEnany. In 2022, Jessica Gonzalez joined, a former Activision Blizzard QA tester.
ActivisionAmerican video game publisherActivision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It is the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016.
Blizzard EntertainmentAmerican video game publisher and developerBlizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the highly influential massively multiplayer online role-playing gameWorld of Warcraft (2004) as well as the multi million-selling video game franchises Diablo,StarCraft, and Overwatch.
Strike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, labor strike in American English, or simply strike, is a form of direct action in which employees collectively refuse to work. It is usually a response to employee grievances. Generally, strikes are intended to bring an employer to accede to employees' demands for improved working conditions or unionisation, particularly when other avenues of change, such as negotiations or legal redress, have been exhausted.
Quality assuranceQuality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design, reliability, and maintainability expectations of that customer.
Raven SoftwareRaven Software Corporation (trade name: Raven; formerly Raven Software, Inc.) is an American video game developer based in Middleton, Wisconsin, and part of Activision.
National Labor Relations BoardThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the NLRB has the authority to supervise elections for labor union representation and to investigate and remedy unfair labor practices.
Hearthstone2014 online collectible card game2014 video gameHearthstone is a 2014 free-to-playdigital collectible card video game produced by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled Heroes of Warcraft, Hearthstone builds upon the existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the same elements, characters, and relics. The game is available on the Windows, macOS, iOS and Android platforms, featuring cross-platform play.
King (company)King.com Limited is a Swedish video game developer and publisher that specialises in social games. Since 2026, it is one of 3 publishing businesses of Xbox. Headquartered in Stockholm and London, and incorporated in St. Julian's, Malta, King rose to prominence after releasing the cross-platform title Candy Crush Saga in 2012. It is considered as one of the most financially successful games utilising the freemium model.
Trade unionOrganisation of workers with common goalsA trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions and safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing the status of employees (including rules on promotions and just-cause conditions for termination), and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.